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Grand jury refuses to indict Tyler officers

Monday, September 29, 2003

TYLER, Texas (AP) - District Attorney Jack Skeen says a witness was incorrectly left off a Smith County grand jury list in the case of a man shot to death by police during an apartment complex scuffle in July.

The family of Terence Raibon had questioned whether the grand jury, which declined to indict three Tyler officers in the case, had all the evidence it needed.

"We've reviewed the information and we're going to take what we believe are the appropriate steps into the matter since that witness should had been in there," Skeen said.

"I had an assistant DA assigned to that area and that was one of his responsibilities -- to get all the witnesses, particularly those with an adversarial position to the police, called to testify," Skeen said. "I didn't even know this one existed."

The grand jury on Sept. 5 did not indict officers Michael Saxion, Philip Johnson and Josh Green in connection with the July 31 death of Raibon, 26, who was shot six times. Three other people, including Tyler Police Officer Kenneth Gardner, were wounded by gunfire after Raibon opened fire on the officer.

Meanwhile, the Smith County prosecutor who oversaw the grand jury investigation into the shooting says he won't be employed there much longer and Skeen has described the prosecutor's actions as "improper" and "inappropriate."

Prosecutor Jim Huggler told the Tyler Morning Telegraph for its Tuesday editions, "I will not be employed by the DA's office shortly."

Skeen would not elaborate on Huggler's job status.

The newspaper reported that witness Kendrick Williams, 23, who was previously omitted from the original grand jury witness list, was served with a subpoena Monday, ordering him to appear at a grand jury hearing scheduled for Thursday.

Williams, who has family ties to the victim, claimed he saw a Tyler officer shoot Raibon in the back as he was wounded and face down on the ground. But Huggler excluded Williams from testifying, saying he was "not credible."

Huggler and Tyler police said Williams' statement lacked credibility because it was inconsistent with ballistic evidence obtained from the scene and statements given by four officers involved in the shooting and two outside forensic experts.

Tyler police said 29 citizens also gave statements contradicting Williams. All described a "rapid fire" sequence of shots with no mention of a pause or a "last shot."

Police said Raibon, whom they were trying to detain for littering, fired at the officers first and shot one in the back of the arm.

According to the autopsy report, Raibon's blood contained marijuana and an illegal controlled substance, PCP, but no alcohol. The report said Raibon was shot twice in the chest and once in the upper arm, palm, lower back and thigh.

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